Photovoltaic (“PV”) cells, commonly known as solar cells, are devices for conversion of solar radiation into electrical energy. Generally, solar radiation impinging on the surface of, and entering into, the substrate of a solar cell creates electron and hole pairs in the bulk of the substrate. The electron and hole pairs migrate to p-doped and n-doped regions in the substrate, thereby creating a voltage differential between the doped regions. The doped regions are connected to the conductive regions on the solar cell to direct an electrical current from the cell to an external circuit. When PV cells are combined in an array such as a PV module, the electrical energy collected from all of the PV cells can be combined in series and parallel arrangements to provide power with a certain voltage and current.
PV systems can include devices to convert the direct current (“DC”) electricity from solar panels into alternating current (“AC”) electricity. This AC may be manipulated and processed such that it can be accepted by a public power grid, used locally by an operator of a PV system, and transmitted for offsite use. The manipulation and processing of the voltage from the PV system for subsequent use can be carried out under supervised conditions, controlled operations, and with the use of software and hardware management implementations. These management implementations may control and/or monitor the PV system or its operation or both.
The location and orientation of PV modules of a PV system can affect the amount of solar irradiation each solar cell of a PV module is exposed to and, therefore, the amount of subsequent voltage generated by the individual cells, the PV modules, and the PV system as a whole. Location can include where in a PV system a PV module is positioned and what latitude and longitude the PV system is installed at. Orientation can be described as an angle of tilt away from pure horizontal (an x-axis) a PV module has or a pitch along the face of a PV module or both. Both the location and orientation of a PV module can affect the angle at which sunlight will strike the cells of the PV module, e.g., at a pure perpendicular angle or something other than ninety degrees, and, therefore the how much voltage will be generated by the PV module during incident sunlight.